Kemeny Rec Center Supervisor Robert Donaldson (left) and Dr. Delores Leonard present materials to community members at the November 2 opening of the Kemeny Reading Center Computer Lab

DETROIT – The Kemeny Recreational Center’s Reading Corner officially opened their new computer center with a special gathering on November 2 in Southwest Detroit. Approximately two dozen community members, Kemeny staff and local organizers were in attendance as a total of eight new personal computers with full internet capability were officially brought online and introduced to community members.

“I thought it went well,” said Dr. Delores Leonard, a retired educator and community advocate in Southwest Detroit who provided the primary impetus for the computer center and the Reading Corner to be established inside the Kemeny Center. “My major goal was to get seniors involved. If we can get the seniors involved, hopefully they will cross over and work with the children. The children are so knowledgeable about the computers, so I am very pleased.”

Kemeny Center Supervisor Robert Donaldson gave the welcome followed by an opening address from Leonard. Other speakers at the event were Rhonda Anderson of the Detroit Sierra Club’s Environmental Justice Office, Jenny Lee and Anderson Walworth – both of Allied Media Projects. Anderson spoke on the relationship between environmental justice and digital cheap car insurance justice. Lee spoke on the principles of digital justice and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which is funding a series of DDJC computer labs through the Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program.

“(The computer center) gives the community an opportunity to engage with what’s really going on now because the technology is changing every year,” said Donaldson. “It gives a lot of accessibility to a lot of people who are virtually shut in this Southwest corner of Detroit.

“Hopefully, everybody in this southwest community will be able to come and give some input into what they would like to see in this new structure. It has a tremendous upside.”

Currently the Reading Corner and new computer center share a common meeting space with other activities in the rec center. That should soon change when a long sought new facility is erected soon as a new home of the Kemeny Rec Center. Organizers anticipate the new building should make an even more suitable home for the community computer center.

“The new center will definitely be bigger and better,” Donaldson said. “We’ll have a lot more room. For example, you can see in this meeting room that we use is multi-purpose. I believe the participation can be much more impactful when we don’t have to use this it for multiple purposes. We can use it for much more than leisure and recreation but we can get into education.

“By all means, the computers come into play with the library and the computer lab. We just don’t want it to be just a little satellite library. If they build this building big enough, it can definitely be like a Detroit Public Library right in the new building.

It will give a whole lot more exposure to this southwestern corner. We are not just talking about southwest Detroit, we are also talking about the communities that are adjacent to us like Ecorse, River Rouge, Melvindale, Lincoln Park and South Gate.

The Kemeny Reading Corner is a member of the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition along with 12 other organizations in Detroit who are all committed to the principle that communication is a fundamental human right. The DDJC came together around a core group of digital justice principles: Access, Participation, Common Ownership and Healthy Communities.

Dr. Leonard will be offering basic computer classes for senior learners at the lab. The classes will include how to use email, how to create email attachments and use the internet. Sign up sheets for community members over the age of 55 can be found at the front desk. Or for more information call 313 623-0956.

On Tuesday October 4, 2011 the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, a member of the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition, used mesh wireless technology to share a message with Tigers fans gathered at Comerica Park for game 4 of the playoffs.

At the Allied Media Conference in Detroit, 2011, Joshua Breitbart of The New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative and Nina Bianchi of The Work Department and Detroit Project Archive designed and organized Name That Tech Collaborative Design Challenge. With the help of a handful of terrific volunteers, we had a successful first run of the workshop and saw some incredibly illuminating illustrations of a wide range of technologies, ranging from Twitter to Encryption to Inclined Plane / Lever. We’re posting our documentation here as well as all of the resources we created so that you can host this workshop yourself in your community, anywhere!

Name that Tech: Collaborative Design Challenge Workshop

Purpose: If we want to teach a new technology, we need to use words and images that people can readily understand. This workshop helps us learn how to do that by restricting us to basic shapes and some of the most common words in the English language.

Goal: Explain a specific technology to someone using common words and shapes.

Materials: Scissors, glue sticks, paper; set of words; set of shapes. (You can also use magazines or newspapers for raw images and text.) You can download the graphics, word elements and instructions here:

Basic Geometry: print on 11 x 17” paper, print one PDF set of shapes per 5Basic Words: print on 8.5 x 11” paper, print one PDF set of words per 15 peopleInstructions and Template: print on 8.5 x 11” paper and hand out to all participants, this also doubles as the paper that participants will use for their design

Note on accessibility: It is important to have a table available for anyone to work who may not be able to use the floor as a work space.

Steps:
1) Think of a technology that you are familiar with. It can be old or new, real or imagined.
2) Find the shapes and words you want to use and cut them out.
3) Arrange the shapes and words on the page in a way that explains the technology: how it works or how you use it. Imagine that the person you are explaining it to doesn’t know anything about the technology.Note: You may use any number and combination of words and shapes; you can cut, fold and past; but you can only use what has been provided.
4) Glue the pieces in place. Make sure they are all glued.
5) Write your name and contact information, along with the technology you are explaining, on the back of the sheet of paper.
6) Using the binder clips, hang the flyer up to display and dry on any of the hooks on the window.

Email Nina Bianchi at nina [at] theworkdept.com if you’d like to share your documentation, we’d love to share your stories! Tweet about it using #collabdesign to post to the Allied Media Conference TALK site.
Photo and Illustration credits above, from top to bottom:

1. Twitter by Drew Gordon, 2. Surveillance by Sasha Costanza-Chock, 3. The Cloud of Technology by Ashraf Ali, 4. How the Internet Works by Hannah Sassman, 5-7. Workshop Documentation by Preston Rhea

DDJC members from the 48217 community will be part of the Detroit Story. Presentations will be given 6pm Wednesday, August 24th at the Detroit Marriott. They will highlight their challenge with polluting industries in their community and solutions they would like to see implemented. All Detroiters are welcome to attend.

We’re thrilled to announce that we started the distribution of our third zine at the Allied Media Conference last weekend! A Big thanks to everyone’s hard work and contributions. Catch up with a DDJC member if you’d like to get a printed copy or learn more about getting involved in the collaboration.

PDF for viewing online here and PDF ready for print and distribution in your community here.

Future City Media Workshops, part of the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition, presents Social Media Strategies from Egypt’s Revolution to Detroit’s Economy, the first of a bi-weekly Saturday Speaker Series.

Social Media Strategies from Egypt’s Revolution to Detroit’s Economy is an open workshop and discussion examining how social media was an instrumental tool in voicing the people’s frustrations and aspirations during the ongoing revolutions in Egypt and across the region. Featured speakers from the Middle East and North Africa will discuss how the combination of building community online and off brought the power of the people together. This workshop will also share best practices and how-to guides in using social media tools. From twitter to texting, attendees will learn how to build communities and opportunities with social media technology.

Featured speakers include:Atef Said (Egypt, Human Rights Attorney and Organizer)Khaled Mattawa (Libya, Poet and Professor of Creative Writing, University of Michigan)Lottie Spadie (Detroit Digital Justice Coalition and Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Council)Nadine Naber (Author and Professor of Arab American Studies, University of Michigan)

The Detroit Digital Justice Coalition is comprised of people and organizations in Detroit who believe that communication is a fundamental human right. We are securing that right through activities that are grounded in the digital justice principles of: access, participation, common ownership, and healthy communities.

The mission of the series is to have community dialogue on creative communication strategies and digital justice. The series runs every other Saturday till July 31st starting Saturday, April 30, 2011.

The Future City Media Workshops are made possible through a grant awarded to the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition (DDJC) by the the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program of the American Recovery And Reinvestment (Stimulus) Act.

The Future City Media Workshops are 22 week trainings for Detroiters interested in building a community media economy and an awesome future for Detroit. The workshops will offer advanced training in audio, video, graphics, and web design skills. They will also offer training in digital media education and entrepreneurship. Participants will graduate with the unique skill sets necessary to train other Detroiters in digital media, create their own jobs, foster cooperative forms of community wealth creation, and support media-based community organizing for a better Detroit!

The Detroit Digital Justice Coalition is comprised of people and organizations in Detroit who believe that communication is a fundamental human right. We are securing that right through activities that are grounded in the digital justice principles of: access, participation, common ownership, and healthy communities.

YOU SHOULD APPLY IF YOU:

▲ have some experience in creating digital media.
▲ have some experience in teaching -or- have some small business experience.
▲ are between the ages of 18-80.
▲ are dedicated to creating a community media economy and an awesome future for Detroit.

Detroit Media Economy Collaborative’s overarching goal is to cultivate a community media economy in Detroit. Over the next two years we will implement programs grounded in the digital justice principles of: access, participation, common ownership and healthy communities.

Train 50 digital media artists to become educators and entrepreneurs. These Digital Media Educators/Entrepreneurs (DMEs) will graduate with unique skill sets necessary to train other Detroiters in digital media, create their own jobs, foster cooperative forms of community wealth creation, and support media-based community organizing.

Train 24 K-12 teachers to integrate media arts into core curricula. In partnership with DMEs, these teachers will design learning environments that transform students’ perception of Detroit from a place of abandonment to a thriving home.

Organize a city-wide youth media program that partners high school students with local businesses and community groups to improve their online presence. This program will build a stronger network of youth leadership organizations in Detroit, while fostering inter-generational relationships and making grassroots community-development work in Detroit more visible to the world.

Build an online hub that will market Detroit’s community media services and provide of platform for other grassroots community economies in the city.

The long-term goals of this program are to:

Build the capacity of educators, community organizers, artists, technologists and small businesses to build just and creative forms of education and economic development in Detroit.

Model a collaborative spirit and practice that will inspire participatory, creative and effective community decision-making and problem-solving in Detroit.

Learn and teach with communities beyond Detroit through our well-established pathways for collaboration, including the Allied Media Projects Network, the U.S. Social Forum, and the Poverty Initiative.

Create long-term sustainability within our movements by leveraging more resources and support for grassroots community organizing and economic development, while transforming relationships between funders and grantees, policy-makers and community-members.

The Detroit Digital Justice Coalition (DDJC), in partnership withMichigan State University, is receiving approximately $2 million in federal stimulus funds to support its community organizing and economic development efforts in the Detroit area.

Over the next two years, the grant will support partnerships between local digital media entrepreneurs and teachers to integrate digital media arts into the core curriculum of area high schools. It will work with teams of young people to enhance the online presence of local small businesses and community organizations. The program will also provide training and outreach to build a sustainable local market for digital services.

This program expands on the DDJC’s ongoing deployment of affordable mesh wireless broadband networks and its series of local Discovering Technology “DiscoTech” neighborhood fairs. As part of the federal grant, the Small Business Training and Development Center will be providing support for digital media entrepreneurs and small businesses.

“As more Detroiters create their own jobs – from computer-repair to soil-remediation to independent record labels – high-speed Internet access and digital media skills are essential. Young people have an important role to play as teachers and innovators in this growing information economy. Through this program we will expand our communities’ capacity to transform Detroit from the ground up,” said Lottie Spady, Associate Director of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council, a member of the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition.

The DDJC is part of a city-wide effort by hundreds of community organizations and individuals to address Detroit’s most pressing challenges through creativity and collaboration.

“The year-long process behind this grant offers a replicable model for how grassroots organizations can come together across a diverse spectrum of issues and communities, synthesize a vision for citywide change and then organize to make that vision real,” said Jeanette Lee, Program Director forAllied Media Projects, a member of the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition.

The federal grant is through Michigan State University, which has also received stimulus funding to expand computer centers in rural and urban communities throughout the state. In addition to providing training and outreach, the Digital Justice Coalition is supporting ten local computer centers in Detroit and Hamtramck. The grants are part of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), created through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 and administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, which has promoted civil rights and social justice in Detroit since 1941, is serving as the fiduciary for the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition.

Kurt DeMaagd, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media, who is leading the statewide project, said, “Broadband adoption has the ability to transform Michigan’s urban areas into information economies. This project gives high school and college students an opportunity to make a difference firsthand in their communities with MSU training and support.”

The grant is focused on Michigan’s Cities of Promise – Benton Harbor, Detroit, Flint, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Muskegon Heights, Pontiac and Saginaw, and expands MSU work already underway throughout Michigan, DeMaagd said, complementing a $6 million grant announced in August to create more public computer centers in Michigan’s urban areas. With an earlier round of funding – a $1 million grant announced earlier this year – MSU began installing computers in 88 existing library computer centers and establishing new centers to provide broadband access for people in rural areas of Michigan.

“Combined, these three grants will have impact throughout the state of Michigan. They will help transition Michigan to an information economy, which is crucial to economic progress,” said Pamela Whitten, dean of the MSU College of Communication Arts & Sciences, which houses the grants.